Filing cabinet



FILING CABINET Filed Aug. 22, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r u 42 .l 77 0 I I l will E. s. HOWARD Oct. 3, 1939.

' FILING CABINET Filed Aug. 22, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 it/g. 6.

3.40M E diffoafard.

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Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFileE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in filing cabinets.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a filing cabinet with sliding drawers, each of which has a front wall carrying a false bottom section with the front wall and false bottom section adapted to be slidably projected forwardly of the drawer body with the filed matter in the drawer tilted to a considerable degree to facilitate inspection thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sliding drawer for filing cabinets wherein the front wall of the drawer covers a bottom section that is extensibly carried by the body of the drawer with latch devices for retaining the front wall and bottom section of the drawer in locked engagement with the body of the drawer with the front wall acting to compress the paper or files in the drawer.

With the above .and other objects in view that will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a filing cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention, showing one of the sliding drawers thereof in projected position;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the drawer removed from the cabinet and with the front wall thereof in its closed position relative to the body of the drawer;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view, similar to Figure 2, with the front wall and forward false bottom of the drawer in their forwardly pro-' J'ected positions relative to the body of the drawer;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the drawer, showing the front wall in its closed position and with said front wall illustrated by dotted lines in its forwardly projected position with a file or paper in the drawer shifted to an inclined position for inspection;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view of the drawer with the front wall and false bottom in\ their forwardly'projected position, the normal upright position of the papers or files being illustrated in full lines, while one of the files is illustrated by dotted lines as moved to a deeper inclined position when the front wall and false bottom of the drawer are Figure 6 is a top plan view of the same;

Figure 7 is a detail view;

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view, showing the tensioned releasing device for the latch lever for the front wall of the drawer; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the guide rod for the drawer.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to Figure 1, the reference character In designates in general a 10 filing cabinet comprising a casing Ii having vertically spaced sets of horizontal guides l2 for sliding drawers i3.

Each sliding drawer i3 comprises vertical side walls It, a rear or inner end wall IS, a bottom. 15 wall I6 and a front wall I 1, the bottom wall is of the drawer being set upwardly of the lower edges of the side, rear and front walls of the drawer as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The front wall I! of the drawer is separate from the side 20 and bottom walls thereof and as shown in Figures 5 and 6, carries a false bottom section l8 that extends a distance into the drawer and slidably rests upon the upper face of the forward end of'the bottom wall ii.

To guide the movement of the front wall I! and false bottom l8 of the drawer relative to the body portion of the drawer, the forward ends of the side walls M of the drawer at the outer sides thereof are provided with guide channels 30 or tubes i 9 disposed at the upper and lower edges of the side walls and in which tubular guides, rods 20 carried by the front wall I! are slidably mounted.

To retain the front wall l1 and false bottom 35 i8 of the drawer in its locked position relative to the body of the drawer, a bell crank lever is provided and is pivoted as at 2| adjacent the lower end of the front wall ll below the false bottom i8'and the fixed bottom IS, the vertical 0 arm 22 of the bell crank lever extending upwardly through an opening 23 in the false bottom iii, the other horizontal arm 24 of the bell crank lever being disposed below the fixed bottom iii of the drawer and being of a length slightly greater than the length of the false bottom I 8. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the rear or inner end of the arm 24 of the bell crank lever carries a roller or ball 25 that is adapted to be projected upwardly into the opening 26 in the bottom wall l6 for 50 holding the front wall I! immovable relative to the body of the drawer. The upper end of the arm 22 of the bell crank lever as shown in Figures 5 to '7, has one end of a pin 21 attached thereto with the pin 21 horizontally projecting through an opening in the front wall I! of the drawer, the forwardly projecting end of the pin carrying an enclosing channel bar 28, while a coil spring 29 surrounds the pin 21 between the bar 28 and front wall I! for normally influencing the upper end of the arm 22 of the bell crank lever toward the front wall 11 and correspondingly elevating the inner or rear end of the arm 24 of the bell crank lever for positioning the roller or ball 25 in the opening 26 in the bottom wall l6 of the drawer. The tensioned channel bar 28 for the operation of the bell crank lever lies within the hand grip or handle 30 for opening and closing the drawer.

A guide rod formed of tensioned telescoping sections iscarried by the drawer above and adjacent the bottom l6 thereof, the rear end of the rod 3| abutting the rear wall l5 of the drawer while the forward end thereof is slidably received in the tube 32 that projects through the lower end of the front wall I'I above the false bottom l8, the tube 32 at its outer end being externally threaded as at 33 for engagement in a threaded opening in the lower end of the front wall l1 and operated by the button head 34. A coil spring 35 within the tube 32 is engaged with the forward end of the rod 3| and acts to provide expansive movement between the rod 3| and tube 32.

With the front wall I! ofthe drawer in its closed position relative to the body of the drawer as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6, the same together with the false bottom I8 is restrained from movement relative to the body of the drawer bythe tensioned bell crank lever having the ball 25 thereof received in the opening 26 in the bottom wall of the drawer. When it is desired to project the front wall I! and false bottom l8, it is only necessary to press upon the tensioned button 28 for moving the bell crank lever upon its pivot 2| to disengage the ball 25 from the opening 26 in the bottom wall l6 whereupon the front wall section may be moved forwardly, the sectional tensioned guide rod also being extended with opposite ends thereof retaining contact with the front and rear walls of the drawer for the retention of index cards and the like in proper positions. During the forward movement of the front wall I! and false bottom l8, the stack'of papers or files shown at A in Figures 4 to 6 that normally assume a substantially upright position are projected to a decidedly inclined position, one of which is shown at B in Figures 4 and 5 for a clearer inspection of the files in the drawer, the latter being equippedwith the usual follower 35 as shown in Figure l for maintaining the files in proper position in the drawer. The front wall and false bottom are moved to their normal closed positions relative to the drawer by pressure on the front wall of the drawer, the ball or roller 25 of the bell crank lever being automatically received in the opening 26 in the bottom wall l6 of the drawer for locking the front wall and false bottom in their retracted position.

From the above detailed description of the invention, it is believed that the construction and operation thereof will at once be apparent, and while there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a sliding drawer for file cabinets and the like, a drawer body having side, rear and bottom walls, a front wall extensibly mounted relative to the drawer body, a bottom section carried by the front wall and overlying the bottom wall of the drawer body, a removable extensible guide rod formed of telescoping sections for index cards and the like within the drawer, spring means confined in the telescoping sections and active normally to separate the sections, one section being secured to the front wall of the drawer and the other section having its outer end freely engaged with the inner face of the rear wall of the drawer whereby the ends of the guide rods remain engaged with the front and rear walls of the drawer irrespective of the position of the extensible front wall relative to the drawer body.

2. In a sliding drawer for file cabinets and the like, wherein a sliding drawer body has rear, bottom and side walls, and wherein the sliding drawer body has an extensible front wall section having a bottom section overlying the bottom of the drawer body and with cooperative guide means carried by the side walls of the drawer body and the front wall section, means for releasably securing the front wall section in retracted position relative to the drawer body whereby the drawer body may be slidable inwardly and outwardly of the cabinet without extensible movement of the front wall section.

3. A sliding drawer for file cabinets and the like, as set forth in claim 2, characterized by said means including a latch carried by the extensible front wall section and having a part engageable with the bottom wall of the drawer body.

4. A sliding drawer for file cabinets and the like, as set forth in claim 2, characterized by said means including a bell-crank having a vertical leg inwardly of the front wall section and a horizontal leg beneath the bottom wall of the drawer body, separable connections between the free end of the horizontal leg and the bottom wall of the drawer body and operating means for the bellcrank lever extending through the front wall section and engaged with the upper end of the vertical leg.

5. A sliding drawer for file cabinets and. the like, as set forth in claim 2, characterized by said means including a bell-crank having a vertical leg inwardly of the front wall section and a horizontal leg beneath the bottom wall of 4 the drawer body, separable connections between the free end of the horizontal leg and the bottom wall of the drawer body and operating means for the bell-crank lever extending through the front wall section and engaged with the upper end of the vertical leg, and a drawer handle of strap formation attached to the outer face of the front wall section and overlying the operating means for the bell-crank lever for protection thereof and to prevent accidental operation of said means.

ERWIN S. HOWARD. 

